What makes a good website graphic design? A graphic designer does more than decide the color scheme and arrange information panels. They define the personality of the brand conveyed through the website. Often they design the logo, layout, page style, tool style, and many supporting art assets. The graphic design must grow with the website, adapting to each new page and portal. The design must also grow with the brand, becoming a mature brand representation without needing to rebrand as the company grows.

If you've found yourself reading this article, it's likely you already know the value of investing in a professional to design the brand and website of a new business. No matter your designer's talent, your own preparations can have a profound impact on the success of the project. If you don't want to second-guess your design later, the best thing you can do is prepare to ensure the brand is exactly what you want as it is designed. Consider that your half of the partnership must convey the brand's central theme, personality, mission statement, website flow, and growth projections in a way the designer can turn into a functional artistic design. The better your preparations, the better attuned the final design will be to your brand's success.

THE BENEFITS OF BEING PREPARED FOR YOUR BRAND DESIGNER

Hiring a designer is more like a partnership to see the best results. You want to work directly with your designer to help them fully grasp the style, purpose, and personality of your brand. Handing off the design task in-full without collaboration can result in incomplete designed that are really attuned to your brand or potential growth. The right preparation to collaborate can help you ensure that:

• You never second guess the design direction you provided or wish you had done something different.

• Your brand actually attracts your ideal client.

• Your brand grows with your business rather than changes into something that requires a rebrand.

These are important and common concerns among businesses designing a new brand or rebrand. You need a brand that can shape an entire website, move your audience positively, and evolves as your business grows. By preparing to collaborate, you can help your designer reach these goals with aesthetic confidence.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR HIRING A GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Getting ready to collaborate with a designer for your brand and website means having answers ready for the questions they will ask.

• Who is your brand?

• Who are your customers?

• What do you want your customers to feel when they see your brand?

• What is your central message?

• What imagery do you see yourself represented by?

• What are your design likes and dislikes?

These questions and more will help define your brand design into a powerful first draft that can be refined to the purpose and personality of your new business.

Step 1: Define Your Target Market

Who are your customers and what do they care about? Determine your audience and target market for your new company. Determine why they would buy your product and what would make them trust a company more or less in your industry. 

Build several customer personas/avatars to help you determine the lifestyles and motivations of your potential customers and how you can best relate to them. Your brand will need to attract your target market and help them feel they have come to the right place for the services your company provides.

Step 2: Create a Mood Board for Your Brand

A mood board is a digital posterboard of panels that represent how your brand should look and feel. Think of this like a magazine-clipping brainstorm board. Find images on Pinterest that feel right and in the right color palette for your brand. Building a mood board can help you clarify your color palette, the shapes and images that represent the brand, and the message you're trying to send. A good designer can work from a mood board of found internet and derive the general style of brand design you want to achieve.

Step 3: Gather Visual Inspiration (Logo Likes/Dislikes)

In addition to your mood board, build a collection of examples for your logo design preference. Make a stack of favorite logos that are in the right ballpark and a pile of least-favorite logos with clear examples of what you don't like. This can help your designer determine the impression, content, and art style of the logo you want - and what you explicitly don't want - to make their initial drafts.

Putting together like/dislike examples for inspiration can also help you better clarify in your own mind the brand you have half-envisioned.

Step 4: Understanding Your Typography & Fonts

When it comes to website design (and name-logos) fonts and typography play a profoundly important role. Typography is the art of putting together text in a way that is legible and that draws the eye along the page. Fonts are an important aspect of typography determining how each letter of the text is drawn.

Your designer will need to work extensively on typography and fonts, turning your initial art pieces into a complete design system that will flow over every website page and content sheet you create in the future. The right design system - made with both images and typography design - can be used to unify and shape all future content in a recognizable and attractive way.

Step 5: Define What Makes Your Business Stand Out from the Competition

Finally, determine that special something that makes your team stand out from all other businesses in your industry. What is your special passion, founding story, or unique mission goal that gives you more oomph than the rest?

Every company has something that makes them stand out. Maybe it's your quick and playful brand personality, or your dog-friendly office and brand, or your love of mother nature and green business practices. Maybe it's your legendary customer service speed or your charity work with local communities. This special thing can be used to make sure your brand design truly reflects what makes your company shine.

Looking for the perfect hand-tailored brand and website design for your new business? Don't want to worry about the design when it's done? Then get ready to collaborate! By preparing your answers and brand pre-design before hiring your graphic designer, your two teams can work together to ensure the final design for your new business is customer appealing, flexible for growth, and reflects the real spirit of your team and mission.

To help you, I've crafted a helpful Branding Strategy & Discovery Workbook that can guide any company through visualizing the first stages of your brand pre-design and your pre-designer preparations.

To start crafting your new company's brand and website design, reach out for a consultation. I really look forward to hearing from you about your new company and brand.